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BOWLING ALLEY..-

No. 92,467. I Patented July 13. 1869.

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I BDWLING ALLEY; No. 92.467. 1 Patented July 13,1869.

/TT L i nited Lott/ rs Putnam. 92,407,;hea Jim, in. lS69.

MRQVEMENT IN BOWLING-ALLEYS.

The Schedulereflerrefi to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may c0ncern5 Be it known that I Amos T. Person, of Fair Haven, in the county of Bristol, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a. new and improved Bowling Alley or Table; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

' making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a bowling-table I having my improvements applied to it.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section taken in .a vertical plane through the centre of the improved bowlingiable, showing a portion of the return-trough broken away to expose a, spring-ball stop at the lower end of said trough.

'l igure'3 is a top view of the perforated centriugboard for the pins.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures. i

This invention relates to certain novel improvements which are applicable to bowling-alleys and howling-tables, and which are designed for enabling a person standing at theeud of a table'or. alley from which the balls are rolled, to set up any one or all of the pins-which have been. knocked down, and adjust them in the proper places, and at the same time bring the ball or balls which may have been rolled,-nack to place from which it or they may be conveniently taken, as will be hereinafter explained,

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention, I will describe its construction and operation. Y I

In the accompanying drawing I have represented my invention applied to a, table, of which A is the rolling-bed upon which the pins a a are placed, and D the body of this table, which latter is mounted upon legs D. In practice the bed A. may be made of any required length, and mounted upoulegs as a table, or laid down in the manner of a permanent alley.

In rear of the pin-bed. A, a pit, B, is made,- which is properly cushioned, and provided with a bottom that inclines towards a hole, 1), shown in dotted lines, fig.

2., This hole 1) leads down into the elevated end of a trough, E, which extends forward and terminates at a stop, R, which is located in the bottom of a, vertical chamber, F, of a box, F. In this chamber F a box, N, is moved up and down by apulley, g, and suspension chain or cord j, which box is open at top and one end, and designed for elevating balls from the front end of trough E, and depositing them in the front end of a trough, 0, which may he raised above the level of the bowling bed A.

The stop R of the front end of the lower trough E is constructed with a ledge-r, and applied to a'iong spring, '1, as, shown in fig 2. This spring T will thrust up the stop R, in front of the trough E, when .,relieved from the weight of box N, and prevent balls, j

into said box. 1

which may be in said. trough, from rolling ofi when the box N is not in a position for receiving the balls.

When the box N is fully depressed, its weight bearing upon the ledge 'r, of the said stop R, will depress this stop far enough to allow balls to roll-from trough E By grasping .the thispulley, the vhoxN can be elevated to a proper height for discharging balls from it, and depositing them into the front end of the elevated trough O.

The lip c, -on the frontend of this trough (3-, will'cateh;

over the open end of the box Nyand cause this box to tilt sufficiently to deliver its balls into said trough, as shown in fig. 2. The, trough G, extends back to the rear end of the table, and, being inclined forward, it may be used for conductingballs from the rear to the front end of the table, when it is not desired to use the trough E and box Nfor this purpose; Without the box N, arranged either at; the front or rear end of the table or :tlley, the service of a person stationed in the pit B, will be required to lift the balls bylia-nd into the elevated end of the trough O, in order to get them back to the front end of the table. The pulley g'- is applied to astandnrd, P, secured to one side of the table near its front end, and there is also attuobed'to this pulley g, a cord,f, which rises and passes over a pulley, 71,.at' a proper height,.and is thence conducted to, and passes over a pulley, m,

and carrieddown and fastened to a vertical rod, n. The pulley m is'applied to a pendant, V, which is secured centrally to an arched bridge, K, which is secured .upon a rectangular frame, I, which is mounted upon the upper ends of four vertical posts J, which rise from the side pieces of the table 1).

The frame thus described supports the pulley pendant- I V at an elevated point over the centre of thepin-bed A, as shown in the drawings.

The rod -n is secured perpendicularly to the centre of a horizontal board, G, through the four corners of which the vertical posts J pass loosely, and ali'ord guides for keeping the said board in ahorizontal position while it is being raised or depressed by the cord or chain f Beneath this board G, is another board H, which is guided by posts J, in the same manner as these posts guide the board G, and which is suspendedfi'om a pulley, m, in pendant V, by a rod, h, and a cord or chain it, which passes over said pulley m, and is attached to the upper end of rod 11,

on board G, as shown in figs. 1. and 2.

By this arrangement and modeof suspending the two boards G and H, itwvill be seen that when the board G is elevated, by drawing down the tasself on cord or chain f or by turning pulley g in the direction indicated by the arrow upon it in fig, 2,

the lower board 11' will descend by its own gravity until it assumes the position shown in fig. 2; and

by releasingtassel f or pulley g, as the-case may he,

handle 9', on pulley g, and-turning the board G will descend by its own gravity and lift the board H, until these two boards meet in the position shown in fig. l. r The board H, being lighter than the bpard G, the latter, when released, will cause the former to ascend in the same ratio as the board G descends.

The pins a, when properly set upon their bed A, are arranged. in the form of an equilateral triangle,

' and each pin a is attached, by a smali'cord, b, of a given length, to the lower end of a pin which passes freely through the board G, and is supported upon a light spring, 7), on top of the said board, as shown in figs.1 an 2. The spring-suppo1ts b, to which cords rt are attached,are arranged in vertical lines, and disposed in a similar manner to the plus a, when properly set up on their bed. of an equal'length, pass from their spring-pins on board, G, down through holes, 1', made through the board, H, and are attached ceotrallyto the'upperends of the pins a. The ll0l8S"i,'Whl0h are made through the board H, correspond iii-number and arrangement to the spring-supports b', and alsothe pins a,"\vhcn the latter are setup, and tlievertical axis of Ieaeh hole -i [should coincide with the vertical axis of its pin a, when the latter is brought to an upright position in its proper place on bed A Operation.

To set up the pins a, the bowlerat the front end of the table or alley pulls the tassel f, which will elevate the board G liiglreuough to suspend all the pins 0:,a short distance above their bedAQ'as shown in fig. 2, and bring their upper-ends into their respective holcs' i, through board II, which latter will be depressed to receive and steady said pins, simulr tanvonsly with the ascent of board The tassel f iisthczi released, when board G will descend, raise board ll, leave the pins a in their proper places upon the pin-bud A, and slackcn thepin-cords b, so as to allow the 1nus to fill! readily when struck by a ball howled from the front end 'ol'the table.

if it is desired to lift bailsirom trough E and deposit flu-m into the trough .0, during the act of setting up the. pins a, the bowler turns pulley g in the direction The cords b, which are indicated by the arrow in fig. 2, thus winding the cords f-and 1 upon this pulley, whicn will elevate box N and deposit balls into the trough 0, at the same time cord or chain f is drawn down and'the pins set Having described my invention,

What I claim new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1 Clhe'constrnction of a bowling-table ,or alley with a pit, B, having an'inclined bottom leading into an inclined trough, E, which trough is provided at its depressed end with a spring-stop, R, and an elevator, N,

whereby balls which have been bowled at the pins,

will return towards the front endqof thetable or alley, and may be raised and deposited into a receptacle, 0, substantially as-described.

- 2. The spring-stop R, constructed with a ledge 1 r, and applied to the depressed and of shall-trough on conveyor, E, in combination with an elevator, N, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

3. The elevated receiving-trough 0, provided with a tilting-lip, c, in combination witha ball-elevating box, N, substantially as and for the purposes described.

4. The vertically-movable suspensiomboard G, liar? ing the pins t connected to it byicords b, and springs b, in combination with the vertically-movable peril,

rated conning-board H, said boards being suspended, guided, and operated, substantially as and'for the purposes described.

5. The combination oi'setting-u'p devices, constructed sons to operate substantially as described, with ballreturning and lilting devices; said parts being conne'cted t a pulley, q, or its equivalent, in' such manner that the two operations of setting up the pins 0,

and liitingthe balls, can be cfl'ccted atone and the same time, substantially as described.

6. Plus, a, which arehnng from a setting-up board, G, in combination with a vertically-inovable peiforatel'l ccntring-board, H, substantially as described.

lVitnesscs JGHN BLAKE TAnn, (Jess. Dru-1w. 

